So, here's another story. It's one of those stories where I'm thinking, "hey--totally stunk when it happened but maybe in a couple months I'll look back on it and laugh"? Or not.
The nutshell version for those of you who don't have enough time to read:
Hollynd sick
Addie sick
Addie limps
Addie whines
Primary Children's Hospital Emergency Department
#1 IV
#2 IV because #1 IV infiltrated
couple blood draws
3 days in the hospital
3 different sitters for each kid
3 days of take-out
3 days of pumping
Scared Lynn and Haylie
Addie's fine
Addie & Haylie finally go home
Haylie gets kidney infection
everyone is fine.
Ok. So here's the long --but fun-- illustrated version of what happened:
I called Addie's pediatrician Sun morning because we were going on day #3 with her having a high fever in addition to the fact the she began NOT using her right leg. I know--"what the...?!" She was limping everywhere since Sat evening. We thought she just pulled a muscle or something weird. The pediatrician said to take her up to Primary Children's Hospital. We did. Spent a loooovely evening sitting in the emergency department playing with the camera phone, trying to figure out why she wasn't walking and why there are so many bald tattooed men walking around the Emergency Dept. in a children's hospital. Um, scarrry. (Sorry, I was unable to photograph bald tattooed scary men). But I did get this one:
and this one:
Gotta' love those buddy dolls at Primary Children's hospital. (they are donated dolls that kids get to dress and color). Addie refused to put a pretend IV into her doll when offered. She did, however, make a Hollynd doll complete with pink underwear, hunter jewelry, tights and blonde curly hair in addition to creating a doll version of herself. Shows you how much she missed Hollynd. They sure are good buddies.
Anyway, they decided to admit Addie after getting an ultra-sound, an x-ray and doing blood tests. The pictures didn't show anything was wrong but the inflammatory markers in her blood did. (whatever that means). I majored in Spanish--not blood. Their best educated guess was that she was beginning to have a bone infection so they treated her for that and loaded her up with IV antibiotics. This is her hiding behind the chair when they told her she was going to get stuck. Nice try, Addie.
That was fun. It took 7 people including me to get an IV in her. Needless to say, she was pretty ticked off at me after they got it in. I couldn't help but photograph the occasion.
She was completely normal about 24 hrs after they started the antibiotics but they wouldn't let us go home for yet another day because they wanted her to get an MRI. They had to sedate her for that so the whole process took all day. The MRI results were normal and finally we were able to take our stoned daughter home. At least she was walking though. And, she is 4 more stuffed animals, 1 silly putty, 4 balloons, 1 boquet of flowers and 1 DVD richer--(thanks to everyone for making her day brighter with surprises!).
You thought the story was over. It's not. Addie got to go home but I didn't. I went straight to an Urgent Care facility because I was feeling crumby. Turns out I had a kidney infection. Sweet.
Addie is doing great. She had a couple friends visit today and played and played and played even without running into a wall or falling down the stairs (the doctors and nurses told me to watch her 24 hours because the sedation messes with her coordination). She's fine.
I'm fine. I was pumped with antibiotics too. No worries.
Life is lovely once again.
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU so much to everyone for ALLLL YOUR GIFTS, TIME, PRAYERS AND HELP. I believe things happen for a reason. Although this wasn't real fun, I have come away with an even stronger testimony of the power of prayer and the priesthood. I really don't believe that her pain went away by magic. I don't think it a coincidence that the doctors just happened to "guess" what she might have and then just "wing it" with her treatment. I believe Addie's faith has grown as well. She's a strong little girl and has really grown from this experience. Just don't ever tell her she'll have to get an IV when she has a baby.
note:
The title of this post is taken from Jon and Kate plus 8. You know that show on TLC? I like that show. It's a good show. Seriously makes me feel better about my own life. Makes my life seem VERY manageable.